3.28.2014

Do you see that orange mark on Miller's face? (sorry for the blurry pics)

That my friends is self tanner. St. Tropez bronzing mousse to be exact. I have an event tonight that requires me to wear a dress so last night I showered and then slathered myself in self tanner before bed, probably around 10pm.

Well around midnight Miller woke up screaming and crying so I went into his room and picked him up, laid him on my chest until he fell asleep again and just rocked him. (I had a tank top on but it was low cut so his head was mostly on my chest,) Well I fell asleep too so he probably ended up sleeping on my chest for about an hour or so. I woke up put him back in the crib and went to bed.

It wasn't until this morning when Kyle and I were sitting with him at breakfast that I was like "What is that orange patch on his face?!!" Kyle was like I don't know, and didn't really seem to care until it suddenly came to me that I had put on self tanner and then laid him on my chest!

So Miller now has an attractive patch of self tanner on his face. I tried to wash it off but it doesn't look like it's coming off. Whoops!!

So that my friends is my winning parenting moment of the week. Thankfully we don't have anywhere special to be this weekend where people might ask about the tan patch.

3.26.2014

If you've been following this blog for any amount of time you know that I love to shop. I'm not going to lie, when I first found out I was having a boy I was a little disappointed because I didn't think shopping would be as fun as a little girl would be but let me tell you I was wrong!! I have found that there is a lot of junk out there for both baby boys and girls so you really have to search to find the good stuff. I have also found that baby clothes sell out/change style really quickly so if I find something I like I will buy it in two sizes so I have it for when Miller grows out of it.

I also do not believe in spending a lot of money on baby clothes unless it's for a special occasion. Not matter how much you like to think you're baby won't be messy you're wrong and the clothes will all be covered in spit up, food, dirt, poop, etc at one point or another.

Carter's: to be honest I originally hated Carter's. I was not and still aren't really a fan of the baby clothes that say Mommy's little mvp, Daddy's sidekick etc. Nothing wrong with them, just not my thing. I found with Carter's that I had to search to find the cute stuff and the website ended up being where I purchased most of Miller's clothes when he was 0-3 and 3-6 months.
Now I have to admit that Carter's really stepped up their game this spring and I am so impressed with the clothes that I have already splurged on a bunch for Miller during their last sale.

Here are some of the items we've added to Miller's spring/summer wardrobe:

I picked these up in the blue above, grey, and khaki. I really wanted to get the red but they sold out of them in store and online.

Baby Gap: They are killing it with little girls clothes lately but they haven't been too bad with the boys either. I like to wait until there is a 30-40% off sale because Gap can get pricey but if you snag it on a sale day you can really get some great deals.

Ralph Lauren Outlet: If you can't tell already I like to dress Miller very preppy. Ralph Lauren is one of my favorite places but their prices for children's clothes is outrageous! Thankfully I have a Ralph Lauren Outlet close by and was able to stock up on sweaters and pants for Miller last fall. I plan to make another trip for the summer so that I can stock up again. You can also find a lot of good RL at Marshalls and TJ Maxx- again the girls selection is better but they still have some great stuff for boys. I have found some good stuff at Lord and Taylor on sale- but these sales are hard to come by in the baby section.

Smocked Auctions: I do love a traditional longall/shortall/jon jon on little boys for special occasions. Again these can be really pricey but I thankfully stumbled upon Smocked Auctions on Instagram and was able to nab some great piecese for spring/summer for a steal! These are all around $30 a piece which is good because most run upwards of $60.

I never find anything cute at Target and Old Navy has been very hit or miss for me (it might be our store.) I think I've gotten him one pair of pants there but I've found it very underwhelming in general. I haven't tried Children's Place or Gymboree so I don't know if I'm missing anything there or not.

So tell me where you buy kids clothes! Am I missing any good places to shop for boys?

3.21.2014

TGIF!! Can you all believe spring is finally here?! I'm not sure it's really here yet in Maryland but I'm hoping and praying that winter is finally on it's way out.

1. Essie Fiji- This is hands down one of my favorite Essie nail colors and what I believe to be the perfect spring neutral. It is the perfect pale pastel pink to whisk in the spring time. I actually own 3 bottles because I kept forgetting I had bought it and just bought it again and again ;)

2. Tuscan Kale Salad- I've always liked kale and kale salad but I had yet to make it at home for myself. I'm not sure why, because it's so freaking easy. I am now officially hooked and will be making myself a batch every Sunday to eat for weekday lunches.

3. J.Crew Pom-Pom Tunic- I've decided this needs to be added to my never ending spring/summer wishlist. I think I want it in navy blue though because the white looks super see through and could just get ruined in the sun and sand.

4. "Mommy Tough" Monogrammed Stripe Iphone Cover- I shattered my iphone screen at the end of February and ended up upgrading to an iphone 5C from the 4S. Since I got the 5C I had a really hard time finding a cover that fit it properly so I turned to Etsy and one of my favorite sellers, Pure Joy Paperie, was selling 5C cases that are "mommy tough" so I had to get one. Honestly they would work for anyone who drops their phone a lot like me :) They have a tough outer shell but then the soft rubber shell on the inside to soften the blow to the phone.

I went with the light blue and pink for spring/summer plus it compliments my crazy hot pink phone that I'm too embarrassed to show you all.

5. Joie Sable Sandal- I stumbled upon these on Piperlime the other day and now I'm obsessed! I still haven't figured out how I'm going to convince my husband that I need these for summer but I'm thinking I can find a good excuse- maybe mother's day?! I think I could dress them up or down depending on the outfit.

Hope you all have a great weekend!! It's supposed to be 66 here on Saturday so I'm hoping we can get some good outside time and enjoy some fresh air!

3.20.2014

Sorry for the radio silence! Mills is on the MOVE big time and I NEVER.EVER.SIT.DOWN. EVER. I mean I wanted him to crawl and pull and up and scoot and meet all those milestones but I never imagined just how much physical work that would be for me. Phew. I seriously don't sit down unless he naps.We have gates everywhere but apparently an eight month old is smarter than the gates so I just spend all day playing defense.

I wish I could say we've been doing fun crazy exciting things but we really haven't. It's been so freaking cold here that we've really just been inside. A lot. We all have a horrible case of cabin fever and it's supposed to be 54 today (woohoo) which means we will be taking a long walk!

my view most days...

It snowed on Monday. I didn't believe the weather people and thought it would be a dusting. Wrong, it was 7inches of powder. Conveniently Kyle was in Boca Raton, FL so I had to shovel the driveway myself. I've decided I deserve a pair of Tory Burch sandals as a reward (just joking, sort of)

I think my new holiday thing is to make dessert in honor the holiday... so on St. Patrick's Day we had shamrock brownies. They were delicious.

I'm hoping the Spring Equinox brings warmer weather. This winter has been awful and I'm not sure how much longer I can take it.

We have started working on our guest bathroom upstairs which will be Mills' bathroom so I'm trying to make it kid friendly but not too over the top.

I found this amazing Serena and Lily shower curtain for $24.99 at Homegoods thanks to instagram friends so this was my jumping off point and I'm excited to paint and get started. We aren't doing a full renovation yet- that will probably be 2015 but in the meantime I plan to add some things to spruce it up so it doesn't scream 1980s.
I still haven't settled on a paint color but I will keep you posted as I work on it.

3.06.2014

TGIF!! I can't believe the first week of March has already come and gone already. 2014 is flying by!

Today I am sharing my favorite TV shows (not including reality shows). Before I had Miller and even when he was a newborn and slept a lot I had endless time to watch tv. These days my time and my sleep are precious so I've tried to narrow down my shows to only ones that I love and can easily watch later on my DVR.

1. Scandal- I actually became hooked on Scandal when Miller was first born and I was spending many hours on the couch nursing him. I was easily able to binge watch season 1 and 2 to get caught up. I can't wait to see how this season continues- I didn't get to see last nights so no one spoil it for me!

2. Nashville- I absolutely love Connie Briton and hope I have her body in my 40s. Sometimes I think the drama is a little outrageous but I love the music and the Rayna/Juliette rivalry along with the Rayna/Decon love affair. I'm not a huge fan of the Gunner/Scarlett/Avery thing but Avery has been growing on me lately.

3. New Girl- I think this is one of those shows that if you didn't watch from the beginning it's hard to get into because I tried to get my sis into it but she just doesn't see the obsession. I love all the characters- especially Nick and Jess together, Schmidt is ridiculous, Cece has the best lines, and even Winston who's been annoying lately is still loveable.

4.Dallas- Yes this is a ridiculous remake and total primetime soap opera but I LOVE Dallas! I don't know if its because it reminds me of spending the night at my grandmother's house cuddled up in bed with her watching Dallas on Friday nights but I can't give it up. I also like that it's usually on when my other shows are off giving me a chance to watch it. The good looking boys don't hurt either.

5. House of Cards- This is a new one for us and I'm only about 8 episodes in but I've decided that it's a must watch! I can't wait to see how the first season plays out so we can move onto season 2.

Do you watch any of these shows? What are your favorite non reality tv shows? Does anyone watch True Detective? My husband is hooked on it but I just can't seem to get into it.

- Miller has his first cold this week. It's right up there with teething for "firsts I hate." It's miserable and I wish I could teach him how to blow his nose.

- Despite the cold he has pretty much been sleeping through the night since March 1- Praise the Lord! He changed his nightly wake up from 4am to 11pm- which I can handle because I've either just fallen asleep or I'm still awake and I've been able to rock him back to sleep within 15-30 mins.

-Looking for recommendations on cute, longish t-shirts/sweaters/cute sweatshirts that can be worn with leggings and that won't break the bank. If you have any please let me know.

- We had another snowstorm this past Monday. The only redeeming part was that Kyle got to work from home which is a nice treat

- My new BOB stroller arrived- I'm so excited to use it, if we ever get temps above freezing here.

- Miller has officially outgrown all of his 6-9 month and 6-12 month pants so I had to buy him some 12-18 month pants from Gap today!! Why is my baby growing up so fast?!

- Speaking of growing up too fast he is now officially pulling up and scooting around on everything. My family room has turned into a gated child's den. I thought the swing and bouncer were obnoxious- I was so wrong- the baby gate cage and colored floor tiles are much worse.

-I have a little less than 4 months to start working on 1st birthday ideas- y'all WTF. I swear I just had him. I think we're going with a nautical theme- of course I've pinned about 100,000 ideas I'm not sure how I'm going to narrow it down.

- I am not much of a cook which I mention here often but I pinned a bunch of recipes this week that I'm looking forward to trying. Since we're trying to diet/eat healthy I'm looking for delicious things we can make that I would normally insist we go to restaurant for. We will see how it goes- I'm going to try them next week.

-Speaking of food I am craving French Fries from on of my favorite places in my college town. I googled the place to see if it was still open and according to Yelp the fries are still only $1.25, come in a large paper bag and the place still only takes cash. I love when things stay the same.

- Have you all heard about oil pulling? I've been seeing it all over facebook and I'm very intrigued. You basically swish with coconut (or other oils) for 20 minutes and then spit it out and it's supposed to detoxify your mouth and body. If anyone does this please let me know what you think.